Bartram, David V. S., Migration and Quality of Life in the Global Context, ed. Glatzer, W;Camfield, L;Møller, V;Rojas, M, 'Global Handbook of Quality of Life : Exploration of Well-Being of Nations and Continents', Springer, 2014

Abstract:

As with most significant decisions people make, migration is generally an attempt
to improve one’s quality of life. In conventional terms, one might expect that
such an
attempt would normally succeed,
particularly when migrants are moving
to countries where quality of life is generally higher (in part because
those
countries
are wealthier). But it is not obvious that migration has
a
generally
positive effect on migrants’ happiness. In general, gaining a higher income does
not lead to greater happiness, and so migration motivated by hope for economic
gain might prove disappointing. When migrants move to wealthier countries they
sometimes experience a deterioration in comparative economic status, perhaps
with unfortunate implications for their happiness. This
chapter reviews the
research assessing this proposition and briefly considers studies investigating
happiness for people migrating in other (i.e., non-economic) modes. A
consideration of policy implications argues that research on happiness and
migration does not reinforce the case for a more restrictive approach to immigrant
admissions policies.